Summary: A new study shows that COVID lockdowns hurt teens much more than once thought. The pandemic made teen brains mature much faster, most of all in girls.
During COVID, lockdown was a key step to protect precious lives. It was one of the biggest pandemics since the Spanish flu. It was also one of the first pandemics of the 21st century.
Lockdown is a simple but effective way to stop the spread of very contagious infections. Less contact with the outside world means much lower risk of infection.
But every measure has a downside. Lockdown means social isolation. That hurts millions of people, mostly their mental health. Humans are social animals, so a lack of social contact does real harm.
Lockdown may also be worse for certain groups. One of them is children and teens. Their brains and minds are growing fast. And they depend a lot on social contact to learn certain skills and grow normally.
Sex is another key factor when looking at the harm from lockdown. The female brain is different from the male brain. Much of that comes from hormones and how they affect the female brain. That is also why females are more prone to mood problems.
Now a new study has found that COVID lockdowns did far more harm to girls’ brains than to boys’ brains. It is about how teen brains grow.
This new study compared brain scans taken after COVID with scans from before COVID. Lockdown sped up brain maturing by 4.2 years in girls, compared with just 1.4 years in boys. That gap was huge and statistically meaningful.
Science knows that stress speeds up brain maturing, but it does not fully know how. Still, researchers did not expect so much speed-up in girls. Nor did they expect such a significant gap between girls and boys. This shows that lockdown stress hurt the mental health of girls much more than boys.
And this faster brain maturing happened in teens. That means it will affect this generation for a long time. Of course, it is hard to guess what the harms will be. But it may mean more mental health problems in this generation. It may also lead to some unique health problems.
There are several reasons why lockdown and isolation hit teens harder. They are on the edge of adulthood, building their lives. So they are under huge social pressure. A pandemic like COVID upset their plans. And they had nowhere to let off that pressure. So their mental stress climbed much higher.
These brain changes, a thinning of the cortex, might point to long-term harm to mental health. But researchers say some of these effects might reverse over time, though slowly. More social contact after COVID may help undo some of them. Many teens will likely recover fully, though not all.
Of course, researchers say these findings raise more questions than they answer. The pandemic gave researchers a rare chance to study how lockdowns, isolation and stress affect the teen brain. But it also raised many questions that still need answers.
Knowing these challenges matters, especially since they may tie into care from chronic pain specialists, who treat stress-related illness.
Frequently asked questions
Did the COVID lockdown affect teenage brains?
Yes. A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences compared teen brain scans taken after the COVID lockdowns with scans from before the pandemic. Lockdown sped up brain maturing, seen as thinning of the cortex, by 4.2 years in girls and 1.4 years in boys. Stress is known to speed up brain maturing. But researchers did not expect a gap this big between girls and boys.
Why were girls’ brains affected more than boys’?
Girls’ brains matured far faster. That shows lockdown stress hit girls’ mental health much harder. The female brain differs from the male brain, mostly because of hormones and how they act on it. That is also why females are more prone to mood problems. Teens depend on social contact to build skills and grow mentally, and lockdown cut that off.
Can the brain changes from lockdown be reversed?
Some may be, though slowly. Researchers say some effects of the cortex thinning might reverse over time. More social contact after COVID may help undo some of them. Many people will likely recover fully, though not all. What faster brain maturing means for this generation in the long run is still an open question.
Why does social isolation hit teenagers so hard?
Teens are on the edge of adulthood and under huge social pressure as they build their lives. Their brains are still growing, and they rely on social contact for normal mental growth. The pandemic upset their plans and left them nowhere to let off that pressure. So their mental stress climbed much higher.
Source:
Corrigan, N. M., Rokem, A., & Kuhl, P. K. (2024). COVID-19 lockdown effects on adolescent brain structure suggest accelerated maturation that is more pronounced in females than in males. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(38), e2403200121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2403200121
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP
